TOM SPRINGER: Report all the pope's words

On July 24, The Sun reported the meeting between President Bush and Pope John Paul II and their conversation regarding stem cell research.

Because I heard the pope's recorded comments in a radio news report, I can state The Sun's report, compiled from wire services, is inaccurate in a very important particular.

Under the headline "Pope asks Bush to bar money for embryonic stem cell research, the report states "Pope John Paul II urged President Bush on Monday to reject research on human embryos as Bush weighs government funding for the burgeoning science. ..."

The pope's actual words were, "A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must reject practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from conception to natural death.

Experience is already showing how a tragic coarsening of consciences accompanies the assault on innocent human life in the world."

He then cited as examples euthanasia, infanticide and "proposals for the creation for research purposes of human embryos destined to destruction in the process."

The pope is aware that blastocysts, fertilized human eggs which are early in the cell division process, left over from fertility treatments have been used for research for some time.

These were created for the purpose of facilitating growth of a viable human embryo by being implanted in a receptive human womb. While multiple blastocysts are created for this purpose, only one or two can be used; the rest are discarded and do die.

In the last month, the world was informed that a laboratory in Virginia created blastocysts solely for the purpose of research.

The pope also is aware of this. In focusing his remarks on embryos created for research purposes, the pope clearly draws a distinction between these sources of blastocysts.

The distinction is important because of the "serious moral implications" recognized by President Bush in his response to the pope.

The pope's words do not reject research of human embryos per se. In situations where the blastocyst is created to help create a human life, but will die anyway because it is excess to the pregnancy for which it was created, the pope does not criticize its use for research.

To me, this is similar to donation of organs at death, particularly where the donors of the eggs and sperm have consented ahead of time.

The Pope rejects the devaluation and violation of human life represented by the creation of human embryos solely for the purpose of research.

The pope has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, as have I. Therefore, we both have a physical and a moral stake in the issue of stem cell research.

The Pope distinguished between purposes for creation of blastocysts. He intended to and his intention is important. It should be accurately reported.

Tom Springer is a community member of The Sun's editorial board.

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